Various biological phenomena including cell proliferation and cell differentiation involve localization of various molecules such as a protein, mRNA, and microRNA in a cell. Analysis of localization of various molecules in a cell is expected to lead to elucidation of many biological phenomena, including analysis of molecule functions, analysis of interaction between proteins, analysis of signal transduction pathways, and the like.
International Publication WO 2005/098430 discloses a method for analyzing localization of molecules in a cell by use of a fluorescence microscope and an imaging flow cytometer.
Even when cells are of the same kind derived from the same origin, the individual cells are diverse. Thus, for example, some sells have specific molecules localized in a specific site as shown in FIG. 23A, and other cells have specific molecules localized at another site as shown in FIG. 23B. Moreover, for example, in some cases, due to various factors, the amount of molecules is not uniform between cells as shown in FIG. 23C. The inventor has found that, when information is obtained from molecules having diverse distributions and amounts in cells, the obtained results are varied. Thus, a technique is desired that allows accurate analysis of molecules having diverse distributions and amounts in cells.